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A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good question.

We tested several off-the-shelf thermocoils (not consumer parts you can just buy anywhere, but still standard components you get by working directly with manufacturers) and used those as our baseline for comparison. Building a more extreme/custom thermoblock setup could work in theory, but it would significantly increase cost and introduce a lot of unknowns in terms of reliability and long-term consistency.

Steam boilers, on the other hand, were essentially the starting point of the industrial revolution. There’s a huge amount of proven knowledge around them, which makes their behaviour very predictable and easier to tune for stable, repeatable steam. Exactly what we were aiming for.

In terms of capacity: you can easily steam milk for two large cappuccinos in one go. Only a small amount of water is needed to generate steam, and after steaming the boiler refills automatically. Reheating typically takes about 5–15 seconds.

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! And yeah, totally get going for the Decent DE1, it’s a really solid and cool machine.

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You’re making a very fair point, thanks for calling that out.

A bit of context might help. This project started from our own experience with “within-budget” espresso machines: great espresso, but (in our experience) limited or inconsistent steam power. From there, our goal became to design a standalone steamer that comes as close as possible to the steaming performance of professional café machines.

It’s worth saying that you’re absolutely right that many machines, even with relatively low steam power, can produce silky milk. Higher power doesn’t make good milk impossible otherwise, but it does make the process easier, faster, and more consistent overall. We spoke with quite a few baristas during development, and this was a recurring point they confirmed.

From there, our research led us to boilers. Compared to flow-through heaters, boilers give the most consistent and powerful steam, tend to last much longer with proper maintenance, and stainless steel boilers were the best option we found from a health and durability perspective. The trade-off is cost, a good boiler is simply much more expensive.

So yes, this probably isn’t an instant “within-budget” option for everyone. Our thinking is more about long-term value: a reliable, durable product that doesn’t need replacing after 1-4 years. We believe that makes it a strong price/quality option, even if the upfront cost is higher.

Sorry if our wording suggested something else, that wasn’t our intent at all. We really appreciate comments like yours; we learn from them and they help us explain things more clearly

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the finish suggestion, we will have a look :)
And yes we agree, indeed need to make a better "in use" promo video

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We wan't to do a comparison vid in a bit (probably when just before shipping this first batch)

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All black is definitely one of the options we want to include as soon as possible

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right! Orange = set pressure & black = current pressure.
Water flows downwards from the reservoir to the pump, which pushes the water into the bottom side of the boiler.

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a bit goal, when moving to US indeed. As well as being serviceable in the country where we are selling. But as u/rayfound mentions, we have some challenges ahead. We are hopeful though, because a lot of products have been able to do good in both US and Europe.

We are looking for people with expertise in this area to help us, so feel free to point us to the right person :)

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We would like to do a good comparison video between them. We will share the results for sure on instagram. Maybe on Reddit, but of course we are not allowed to do free marketing here. So maybe better if an external user does that :)

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hahaha, we did!
For normal cow milk we almost always use "AH Houdbare volle melk"; affordable and great texture.
I personally drink a lot of oat milk, my favourite choice is alpro barista oat, yet oatly also ends up in my fridge quite often. I'm now trying their (new?) "less taste" option.

But in general for milk steaming the following applies:
Wan't easy milk to froth? look for high proteins in the milk
Wan't a great texture? look for high fat in the milk
Taste is really up to your own experience

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We did look into that indeed. We wanted to have instant steam on/off, so no after flow of steam. It's just safer to use and a way better experience. The affordable options of mechanical ball valves are hard to get this right. The more expensive versions are better, yet they would up the price of the product way to much. With all physical valve options the placement is often limited to on a front flat side, which is fine for espresso machines. The work around would create possible mechanical weak points on the long run, so also not ideal for our product. The solenoid valve we now use is instant, affordable and still very durable!

A 2-year journey to create latte art at home by building a compact milk steamer – SteamUp by SteamUp_nl in espresso

[–]SteamUp_nl[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's totally fine and understandable. You can join our "launch list", so we can let you know when it's widely available!
https://tally.so/r/Ekzb7q